No Fibbing!

This is funny, in a pathetic sort of way. AP (09.03.06):

"The Internal Revenue Service has been auditing more high-income taxpayers but may not be effectively going after one of the biggest problems — wealthy people who evade taxes by reporting too little business income or overstating business expenses. The reason is that IRS auditors most often conduct audits of high-income taxpayers by correspondence, said a report by the Treasury office that oversees the tax collection agency's operations." IRS Audits May Not Catch Wealthy Cheats

"In those cases, the IRS sends letters to taxpayers asking them to verify information on their returns." Something like this, perhaps: Dear RichGuy: Is everything on your tax return accurate? Respectfully, TheIRS. Dear IRS: Why yes, it is. Thank you for asking. Most Sincerely, RichGuy. Dear RichGuy: Great. Let us know if anything changes, and have a good day. Obsequiously, TheIRS. Dear IRS: But of course. Truthfully Yours, RichGuy. "IRS Commissioner Mark Everson has increased audits of high-income taxpayers in an effort to start closing the annual tax gap, the roughly $345 billion owed but not paid." Let's repeat that, shall we? Unpaid income taxes of $345 billion. Each and every year. The IRS is trying, but without the funding, there's only so much it can do. "The IRS has increased the number of intensive face-to-face audits of wealthier taxpayers over the last few years, even though its budget has remained basically flat." Here's another way to keep those pesky audits to a minimum. NYTimes (07.23.06):

"The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others." I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors

It's not always easy trying to get rich guys to pay their fair share. They're sneaky little devils! So if the rest of us who are paying our fair share ever get the nagging sense we're being played for chumps, rest assured. We are.